President Donald Trump has just rejected the individual whom Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth picked to be his new chief of staff. 

The situation, according to the New York Post, has led to significant controversy, considering the fact that Hegseth had actually picked someone who was a bigtime Trump critic.

The situation was already controversial enough before, when the previous chief of staff left, but now this has taken the controversy to a whole new level.

Many are wondering whether this may be the last straw for Hegseth, who has found himself at the center of several scandals during the first months of the administration.

Background

In case you missed it, Hegseth's last chief of staff, Joe Kasper, left back in April, after some internal conflict.

Politico, at the time, reported:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s controversial chief of staff, who played a central role in a power struggle that gripped the Pentagon, will exit the agency today. Joe Kasper was originally expected to transition to another role within the Defense Department, but is now planning to go back to government relations and consulting, he said in an interview.

The outlet goes on to report on how Kasper "was a leading figure in the firings" of three senior Pentagon officials. This followed an investigation into Pentagon leakers, although these three individuals denied any involvement in the leaks.

Whatever the case may be, it was expected that Kasper would transition to a different role in the Pentagon, but then he suddenly decided to resign.

This is why Hegseth has recently been looking for a new chief of staff.

Not him!

It turns out that Hegseth picked Ricky Buria for the role.

For those unfamiliar with Buria, the Post reports:

Ricky Buria, the defense secretary’s de facto chief of staff, is a rare Biden administration holdover and an internal critic of Vice President JD Vance’s “wackamamie crazy” and “isolationist” views — who has also slammed President Trump’s use of the military for immigration enforcement as “dumb.”

Now, you can probably understand why it is so surprising that this is the guy Hegseth picked. It is also not surprising that the White House has already rejected Buria.

"The White House has blocked him from a permanent chief of staff appointment due to concern about his alignment with the commander-in-chief," the Post reports.

Nonetheless, the outlet goes on to reveal that Buria "nonetheless continues as right-hand man to the defense secretary."